With Pleasure
by Lialane Graest
Summary: Slightly AU. Stein goes to bed with Marie and wakes up the next day to find that she has disappeared during the night only to be found dying on the steps of Shibusen. He is brought to Shinigami-sama who relieves him of his teaching duties, and then asks a favor of him.
1. Murder

The alarm went off and Stein rolled over to turn it off, and ended up being too slow. Opening his eyes he expected to see Marie standing there, and was shocked to find that it was Spirit.

"Get up, Stein." Spirit's voice was cold.

"Senpai?" Stein noticed now that the bed beside him was cold. He closed his eyes and couldn't feel Marie anywhere near.

"Stein, get up." Spirit grabbed the man's shoulder and pulled him out of the bed. "Get dressed. Now."

"Spirit, what's going on? Where's Marie?"

Spirit didn't answer. Stein looked up from pulling on his pants. There was… anger?... in Spirit's eyes.

"Spirit, what's going on?"

"What did you do to Marie, Stein?" There was an edge that Stein hadn't heard in a long time in Spirit's voice.

"Nothing, Senpai. We came to bed last night and that was it." Stein looked completely confused. Right up until Spirit slapped the look off his face.

"Damnit, Stein! I'm trying to help you here. What did you do to Marie?"

"Maybe if you told me was what going I could answer you." Stein finally finished dressing.

"We found her this morning Stein. How could you?" Spirit's temper snapped and he punched Stein square in the jaw, nearly knocking the meister backwards onto the bed. "She trusted you!"

Stein dodged the next swing. "What are you talking about, Spirit? This is a joke, right? It's all a bad joke? Where is Marie?!" He asked, moving to put the bed between himself and the redheaded death scythe.

Spirit hung his head. "Tell me you're being honest, Stein. Tell me you're not the one who did it."

"Did what?!" Stein demanded.

"She's dead, Stein." Spirit looked up at him and Stein could see the tears. "Someone sewed her lips together, gutted her, and left her to die on the steps of the DWMA. Nygus found her this morning, the only thing she said after they cut the stitching on her lips before she died was your name."

Stein collapsed onto the bed.

'_Marie? Dead? No… that's not possible. She was just right here…' _

"You're lying." Stein forced out. "She can't be dead."

"Stein, you're their only suspect. The stitching on her lips…" Spirit trailed off, looking down at the man.

"I would never harm Marie!" Stein exploded.

"But the madness would." Spirit said quietly.

"How many times have you known me to have an attack around Marie, Senpai? With her wavelength I doubt I could ever hurt her, even in the wake of the madness." Stein said truthfully. "There's no way I did anything to her! I've been home the entire time!"

"Let's go, Stein." Spirit grabbed Stein's arm and propelled him out of the room and down the stairs, the taller man stumbling slightly as he came down the steps.

Sid and Justin Law stood at the base of the steps with Joe Buttataki. All three men were glaring at him, but they parted to let him pass with Spirit.

"You're to be escorted back to Shinigami-sama, but first…" Joe's voice trailed off as he stepped in front of Stein, pressing his fist to the man's chest. "Did you kill Marie Mjolnir?"

Rage boiled in Stein's veins and he forced out a single word. "No." His voice was harsh and cold. Joe's hand didn't move and he looked up at Stein with pain in his eyes.

"Did you love her?"

The room was silent. Stein glared at the man who had his fist on his chest, but answered, "Yes."

* * *

Stein stood looking down at the still form laid out on the gurney, and his heart twisted. Giggles poured from his mouth as he desperately turned the screw in his head, his eyes clenched shut trying to block out the image of Marie laying cold and dead on the gurney.

Even with his eyes shut he could feel the emptiness directly in front of him, the cold void where her soul should be floating. No tears came, but many believed that Stein was incapable of them. The attack may have lasted minutes or hours, but eventually Stein came out of it to look down at the corpse, the sane part of him locking away his grief.

"Stein-kun, I know you didn't do this." Came Shinigami-sama's voice.

"Then why have them arrest me as if I had?" Stein asked spitefully, unable to tear his eyes away from Marie's still form.

"I had to be sure, Stein-kun. You came willingly, you answered truthfully." The pain in Shinigami-sama's voice was obvious. "I know you, you will want revenge. You were fiercely protective of Marie-chan."

Stein's hands clenched into fists. "Apparently not enough," he said with anger evident in his voice.

Shinigami-sama was quiet for a moment. "You're released from your obligations to Shibusen, Hakase Stein."

Stein whirled to stare at the being standing in front of him as Shinigami-sama continued in a low, menacing voice.

"I would ask a favor of someone who is no longer affiliated with my school. Find the person or people responsible for the death of one of my death scythes. Destroy them utterly, and bring me their souls."

A sadistic grin spread across the ex-teachers face. "With pleasure."

* * *

**A/N: I started this a while back, and decided to add a bit to it. I'll work on it as I get time between my other stories. I hope that you're enjoying this so far.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


	2. Departure

Stein moved to leave, and then turned back to Marie's corpse. He stood beside the gurney for a moment, and then slipped the glasses off of his face. Setting them on her chest he picked up the dead woman's hand and wrapped the surprisingly limp fingers around them. Stein then turned and walked down the row of guillotines, not bothering to conceal the sadistic grin painted across his face.

Spirit and Justin Law were standing outside the room waiting on him. He shrugged off both of their questions, walking the long halls of Shibusen with the other two simply following along behind him. He pushed the door open and the trio walked into the light of the day. Students watched him leave, and one even called out to ask if class was dismissed.

Stein turned, his face cracked by the grin that he still wore and the student took a step back. "Do whatever the hell you want. I'm not teaching anymore."

* * *

Stein led the other two back to his lab where he slipped out of his lab coat. Going to the room he and Marie shared he opened up the drawer that held his spare glasses and her extra eye patch. Pocketing the eye patch he dropped the glasses on the floor, smashing them beneath his feet.

"Stein, man, what are you doing? Shinigami-sama asked Justin and me to accompany you, but some insight into what is going on would be nice."

"I've been dismissed from Shibusen, Senpai." Stein said simply, taking another item from the nightstand. When he turned to face Spirit the weapon's blood ran cold. "I have one last mission, a favor to Shinigami-sama," Stein's face contorted into a grotesque facsimile of a smile. "I'm going to butcher the people that would dare to kill one of his death scythes."

"Stein, stop and think. Shinigami-sama wouldn't send you out to murder someone in cold blood. Especially if no one had a clue who had done it yet."

Stein just walked past Death Scythe, "Ask him yourself, then. I'm leaving."

Spirit grabbed a small mirror from the bathroom as he followed Stein out of the room. A second later the mirror fell from Spirit's shocked hands. Shaking the man ran his hands through his hair, wondering if it was going to be safe to follow Stein this time.

The scientist whistled a happy sounding tune that it took Spirit a minute to recognize. Cold chills ran down the weapon's spine when he realized it was about death. _'Does Stein believe he is going to his death?'_ Spirit wondered suddenly as the two death scythes followed the man out of his home. _'And if he does, does he believe that Justin and I will survive?'_

* * *

Justin didn't say a thing the entire time they walked, and neither Stein nor Spirit bothered to engage him in conversation. With Justin unwilling to take out his earbuds, there was really no way to effectively communicate with him.

"Stein, where are we going?" Spirit asked.

Stein turned and looked at him, "I am going to find Marie's killers. Where else would I start than with some of my old colleagues?"

"You had… colleagues?" Spirit sounded dubious at best.

"I had to occupy myself somehow after Kami stole my favorite experiment away from me. You weren't exactly cooperative, so I found some colleagues with similar interests." A sadistic grin spread across the man's face and it was obvious that he was remembering something that while pleasant to him, would have been incredibly disturbing for the other two men with him.

Spirit gulped. "Um… how far are we going to have to go?"

"Oh, he's closer than you think, Senpai. Much closer. Within Death City, even." A single giggle slipped out of the man, quickly stifled, and the hair on the back of Spirit's neck stood up. Justin walked on, completely absorbed in his music.

Spirit realized that they had walked away from Death City, but not quite made it to the actual border of the city when Stein stopped. The scientist seemed to be looking for something, and stopped to turn the screw in his head.

"Ah," Stein said, moving towards a spot on the horizon. Spirit grabbed Justin's collar and guided him in the correct direction as Justin shouted his thanks over the noise of his earbuds. Stein continued walking for about fifteen more minutes before he stopped. A small building, scarcely more than a shack, lay directly in their path.

Stein's face was remarkably neutral as he strode to the door and turned the knob opening it. Standing behind him neither death scythe could see anything more than the darkness. Stein stepped into the shack and reached directly to his right.

*Click*

Light flooded the small room. A set of stairs led downward in the otherwise empty room and Stein walked towards them as if he owned the place. Following him down the stairs Spirit shuddered and watched as Justin flicked the volume up on his music, both obviously disturbed.

Stein smiled as if he had come home. He knocked on the door at the bottom of the steps and grinned widely when a window in the top of the door slid open, a gray headed old man peering out of it.

"Well, hello, Jack. Long time no see."

* * *

**A/N: Props to anyone who knows who Jack may be. I may have to take this to M; I don't plan on sugar coating anything that Stein does.**

**I don't own soul eater.**


	3. Euthanasia

"Stein, who are we meeting?"

"A colleague of mine, Senpai. Someone I haven't spoken to in many years." A sadistic smile spread across the scientist's face as the door groaned open. "He has some very interesting theories that I whole heartedly supported."

The man's voice echoed oddly in the hallway. "Yes, it is a shame that the world couldn't agree with us, isn't it, Franky?"

"Franken or Stein, Jack." Stein said as he stepped into the room. The older man laughed and the sound sent shivers through Spirit's spine. He suddenly envied Justin his headphones.

"Pshaw, we're past that aren't we, Franky? We've known each other long enough." The other man's voice intensified the shivers that were running through Spirit's spine and the death scythe grasped his arms with his hands.

"Hardly. It is a shame though, Jack. The world would be a much more enlightened place if it would only have given your work a chance." Stein greeted the older man with a handshake. "I'm not on a social call though. I have some questions about something that happened recently."

"At least introduce me, Franky," the man said with a quiet chuckle.

"Very well, and then onto the case at hand. Spirit Albarn, Justin Law meet Dr. Jacob Kevorkian." Stein waved a hand at the man. "Jack, meet Spirit and Justin."

"Pleasure." Dr. Kevorkian said, inclining his head. "Been a while, Franky. What do you want with me? Or are they why you're here? I'm not doing assisted suicides anymore, sorry kids."

Justin had his eyes closed; mouthing along with the music only he could hear. _'Damn him and his headphones!'_ Spirit thought angrily as he paled at what the other doctor had said.

Stein stepped over to the other man and whispered into the man's ear. When they both looked at the two death scythes their sadistic grins were nearly identical; it sent a shudder through Spirit's very soul and the man nervously cleared his throat.

Stein's facial expression morphed into a small smirk, Kevorkian's face went to a neutral position. "Alright, ask your questions, Stein." Jack's voice was professional now.

"This woman, have you seen her?" Stein pulled an old looking picture out of his lab coat's pocket. Spirit blinked when he realized it was one of Marie, taken shortly after her ascendance to death scythe status. He hadn't been aware that Stein had a copy of that picture.

Jack took the picture and looked at it closely. "Can't say that I have. She wasn't one of our patients, was she? I don't remember her."

"No, she wasn't." Stein said, and Spirit caught the almost mournful tone the man was trying to hide.

"Ah, well. She important to a case or something? And since when do you do that type of work?" Stein took the photo back from Jack and slipped it carefully back into his pocket.

"She was murdered, Jack." Green eyes bored into the man's brown ones.

"I see. You'd claimed her then and someone else took her."

Stein's tone was cold, and Spirit took a step back from the two men. "Yes."

"Well, I don't know what you think I can tell you." The other doctor shrugged. "I'm guessing it was more gruesome than an assisted suicide or you wouldn't have spoken to me, you would've killed me."

"I need to find who did it, Jack."

"Bring 'em back to me once you're done with 'em?" Jack asked, his eyes bright.

"There'll be nothing left. I was tasked with destroying them utterly and returning their souls to Lord Death." Stein's demeanor slipped and the sadistic grin painted itself across his face again.

"Shame that. I would have been more than happy to have the bodies."

"Experimentation."

"Of course."

Stein smirked. "Some other time, Jack. Any idea who I should talk to now?"

The other doctor thought for a second. "Isabel. I hated her when you and I were working together, and she may be carrying the grudge against both of us. She's the reason I'm in this damn hole instead of above ground now."

"Thanks." Stein turned to leave and Kevorkian cleared his throat.

"Payment?"

"Some other time, Jack. Time is of the essence now."

"Just do it before I'm dead, Franky. Don't want to clank around here much longer."

A look passed between the two and Spirit shuddered. _'Damn Justin and his headphones!'_ The death scythe slipped out of the room as Stein replied to the other doctor.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll finish my task and then return. You'll get your payment."

"Good to hear it, Franky. Good to hear it." The metal door slid shut behind them and Stein strode forward, leaving the subterranean lab behind them.

* * *

**A/N: Jack Kevorkian :-) Not the demon he's made out to be, imo. But that's just my opinion.**

**I don't own Soul Eater.**


End file.
